Susannah Lucas
Susannah Lucas, called Susie, by close family and friends, is one of the central characters on the Soap TV show, Somerset that frequently crosses over with Harpers Falls and its current incarnation. She is played on both shows by actress Stacy Edwards, best known for her roles on Chicago Hope and Santa Barbara. Anyssa's beloved sister/best friend Susannah, who is the central character on Somerset, a show that frequently crosses over with Harpers Falls, is Anyssa Forson's long-time best friend and adopted sister, and a staunch ally of the Harper family. Susannah was originally born in Somerset, Illinois to Sam and Lahoma Lucas but was whisked away shortly after birth by Lahoma when she separated from Sam. Once the two reconciled, the Lucases settled in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where Susannah grew up and mastered quite the arm to pitch high school softball. For their elementary school years, Anyssa, who had lost her parents, attorneys Allan and Diane Rayburn, in a car accident, had lived with the Lucases, her parents' best friends, in Oklahoma City, until some time before junior high school. The Rayburns and the Lucases had been old friends of one another from their time in Somerset. Partially this was because Anyssa's only living blood relative, her maternal aunt, Velda Smithfield was unable to get in contact with her and it was the last wishes of Allan and Diane that they raise Anyssa. Susie and Anyssa bonded from that moment on. To this day, Anyssa stills considers the Lucases a big part of her family, and thereby the Harpers consider them family as well. Growing up, Susie was so pleased to have a sister that when she first came into the Lucas home, Susie would show her off to her neighbors. Her friends that she grew up with took to Anyssa as well. When she turned thirteen, Anyssa left Oklahoma City and attended Plaisance Academy in her hometown of Chicago, then for her high school years, she attended Harper Academy in the Boston area, all the time, the costs of her schooling were paid for by her loving aunt Velda. Despite her being away at boarding school, Anyssa kept in contact with Sam, Lahoma and Susie and sometimes often made visits to them at holiday seasons. Susannah went to Northwestern for law school, reuniting with her best friend Patrick Kurtz (Matt Crane), who was at the same university training to become a doctor like his father, Stanley. Susannah and Patrick spent a lot of time with Anyssa, whom she had reconnected with, and her friend Bryan, as they referred to themselves as The Four Musketeers. After time spent working at her dad's law firm, Susie went to a firm in Kansas City called Greenfield and Sedwick. It was during that time that she had met a man named Brad Spencer, a financial planner. They had fallen in love, but he had a temper, and he was quite abusive to Susie. They broke up, but he kept trying to come back into her life. He wanted reconciliation, but Susie did not. In self-defense, she accidentally stabbed him with a knife, and killed him. These explain the traumatic nightmares that she would have from time to time. After the traumatic experience, she went to work for another firm in Oklahoma City, then Susie decided to settle in Somerset to be closer to Patrick, now a doctor in the town his parents had used to live in, and also to erase some of the bad memories that her family had in the area. She settled in Grant's Preserve, which had been the area where Delaney Brands had one stood, and got to know her neighbors down the street, restauranteurs Giovanni and Rose Petterino. She also took a job working for Jack Martin, Somerset's entrepreneur and Donald Trump-style businessman, at Martin Enterprises as an acquisitions manager/attorney. Susie settled into her job and a regular rhythm, even allowing herself to date Nick Barclay, Somerset's city manager, before Nick's mind was sidetracked by the entrance of Donna Morgan to Somerset. Susie and Donna became friends due to their working together at Martin Enterprises. A few months after her arrival, Susie began constant contact with her closest friend Anyssa and she also got to know some of Anyssa's new adopted family, most notably her cousin (now brother), Dylan Harper and her adopted sister, (and Dylan's twin sister) Sheila Harper. Because both are attorneys, Dylan and Susie can talk about the law all the time, and they never get bored. She also got to know Anyssa's aunt Velda. A lot of times, she would go to Boston to work with a woman named Amanda McKinley and worked to bring her family's corporation under the Martin Enterprises umbrella. This gave her reason to visit Harpers Falls and to spend time with Anyssa. Susie knows a great deal about Anyssa's other friends, namely her best friend from Harper Academy, Courtney Harrison; and her two newest friends Serena Gerber and Joliette Manning. Susie finally got a chance to meet Anyssa's other friends, who clearly took to her, over the Holiday season. She was also intrigued by a young girl who had been arrested for graffiti spraying. Susie acted as the girl's attorney at a court hearing and helped the girl escape serious punishment. While dealing with the girl and Martin's job requirements, Susie ignored signs of fatigue, shortness of breath and nausea. Just after Thanksgiving, Susie was shocked when she suffered a heart attack in her office one morning. Patrick found her and got her over to the hospital, where it was determined the heart attack was minor; however, Susie's cardiologist, Walter Erickson, warned her that another attack might happen if she didn't take it easy. While visiting, Anyssa decided to change her last name to Lucas, after the early years of her growing up with Susannah. The attack was a wake-up call for Susie, who took the young girl, who was named Gina Watson, into her house and re-named her Ellen, after Ellen Grant, an old family friend, and sister of Harper in-law India Harper. It was later revealed that her birth mother was Alicia Lambert, the daughter of Anyssa's great-aunt, Patricia Wheeler. The baby was adopted out (the birth father is still alive and not even interested in bonding with Ellen) and was given to Mary Watson and her husband, where she lived in Bay City. She also allowed Nick into her life after Donna eloped with Clarke Freeman, an old boyfriend from Washington, and Susie and Nick slowly fell in love with Patrick's blessing. Susie was also encouraged when Patrick began dating Joanne Kendrick, a co-worker at Martin who had been promoted to vice president. Susie allowed herself to be drawn into the Harper family's business, and it soon put her in dangerous contact with Molly Wainwright, an arch-enemy of the Harper family. Molly broke out of Supermax prison in the outer suburbs of Boston and attacked Susie and Ellen in her own house. Despite the stress, Susie fought back, but she was also rescued by Jack and Scott Garfield, a Somerset police officer. Shortly after the assault, Susie began feeling signs of discomfort in her jaw and neck, which she ignored as residual effects from her fight with Molly. She also was scared to hear that Molly had broken out of jail again. The situation deteriorated when Susannah had another minor heart attack; feeling closed in and ignoring the worsening signs in her body, she whisked Ellen away and tipped off Annabella Petterino, one of her friends, to their location a day later. Molly was captured and the three decided to stay behind in Galesburg, Illinois, to celebrate for a night, but the celebration was cut short when Susannah suffered a severe attack and collapsed in cardiac arrest at their motel. Ellen and Annabella saved Susannah's life with CPR and she was brought to the local hospital. The instance solidified Ellen's desire to be a doctor. After her condition was stabilized, Susannah was transported back to Somerset, and it was discovered that a childhood nerve/heart defect was causing her to get sick. With Patrick by her side, Susannah faced her fears and underwent 12 hours of surgery to correct the disorder and clear up the damage caused by the attack. Nearly losing Susie made Patrick realize how much he cared for her, and when Bryan and Anyssa reconnected and married (Her sister bringing the ENTIRE wedding to Somerset, so Susie could participate) the two shared a slow dance at the wedding reception. Old feelings flooded to the surface, and Susannah soon faced a decision whether to choose Nick or Patrick. The decision was sort of made for her when Nick's old flame, Donna, lost her husband in a tragic accident and Donna and Nick soon reunited. Patrick and Susannah chose not to embark on a true relationship just yet but agreed to spend more time together. Susannah wanted to adopt Ellen before she went any further with Patrick, but there was soon a problem. Bernard, Joanne's father, had fallen in love with a woman named Mary Watson, who was a waitress at The Riverboat Club. Mary and Bernard intended to come out as a couple at the Go Red Ball, but Ellen saw the couple and took off crying. It was revealed Mary was Ellen's foster mother from Bay City, whom she had run away from two years ago due to Mary's errant behavior. Mary wanted to see how Ellen was fitting in with Susannah before she did anything, and at first Mary left the two alone. However, while Susannah was on business an accident involving Ellen changed the dynamics. Ellen ingested ketamine that was meant for someone else while working at the community center one afternoon. When Mary realized Susannah was out of town, she felt Susannah was neglecting her family for work and made plans to file for custody of the girl. A hearing was scheduled, but when Ellen found out she would have to go back to foster care she bolted from the courthouse. Susannah and her family and friends searched for Ellen, and when Susannah found out from Alana and Victoria that Ellen had been slapped by Mary she went to give Mary a piece of her mind. On the way out of the hospital Susannah was stricken with what seemed to be another heart episode; in reality, Susannah's pacemaker was failing and putting her in jeopardy. The chase for Ellen turned deadly when police went to Mary's apartment to talk to Mary about the girl, only to find Mary dead on the apartment floor, the side of her head bashed in, and Susannah unconscious and holding a broken figurine. Susannah, fearing Ellen had something to do with the incident, turned herself in and was arrested for Mary's murder. When Cass Winthrop, a family friend, couldn't take the case, Susannah turned to Donna to defend her. During the course of the trial, the whole story with Brad and his death came out, especially after the prosecutor, Donald Nordmark, procured a copy of the Kansas City Star which had the whole story. The judge harshly rebuked him for his barely legal scheme; and Susannah, painfully, revealed the whole story about Brad and his death. This also helped bring Patrick and Susannah back together as a couple. Nonetheless, though, despite the evidence being purely circumstantial, Susie was found guilty of first degree murder, and was in the process of losing her license to practice law, when, in what was clearly an eleventh hour rescue, Bernard Kendrick, the father of two of Susie's friends, Joanne and Taylor, ran into the courtroom, confessing that Susannah had not killed Mary, but he himself had. Bernard saw Susie on the floor of Mary's apartment, and since Susie didn't remember what had happened, it had been shown that her pacemaker had indeed failed, and thus she was out cold before she could have ever harmed Mary. It was revealed that Bernard had accidentally hit Mary with a baseball bat. As for the broken figurine, it was revealed that wicked Del Henderson, a drug dealer in Somerset and apparently the one who was supplying Mary with drugs, had broken it, and placed it in Susie's hand, intending to frame her for the purely accidental death. He himself fell over the slippery fire escape outside of Mary's apartment (due to a freezing rain event) and was killed. As a result of Bernard's confession and the evidence corroborating it, all charges were dropped against Susannah; the guilty verdict was overturned, and the revoking of her law license was rescinded. Thereby, Susie is now a free woman. After receiving her freedom, she, along with Donna and Anyssa, signed the final adoption papers allowing her to finally adopt Ellen. Upon family friend, Jack Martin's resignation and retirement from Martin Enterprises, Susie is named, along with her friend, Donna, as a co-Vice President; with their other friend, Joanne, as the new President and CEO. With her new job; Ellen finally being adopted; her burgeoning romance with Patrick; and the constant support of her family and friends in both Somerset and in Boston, Susie is poised to be happy indeed. Currently, Susie is also devoted to the four children that Anyssa gave birth to, one of whom is named after her, Courtney Susannah, called Courtney Sue. Susie lavishes a lot of attention on all four of the kids; as does her parents, Sam and Lahoma. Susie makes frequent visits to see her sister and her large family. She was more than pleased to hear that her cousin Rachel Cory Hutchins is once more living in Boston, and that allows her to see her blood cousin, and also helps Ellen to get to know Rachel. With the death of Anyssa's uncle, Michael Harper, Susie received a surprise in his will. Since she was considered part of the Harper family, she received the deed to the townhouse that Michael and Wendy had lived in. With Wendy now living with Dylan, Susie and Ellen now had a house they could live in when they visited Boston. When they were in Somerset, which was more often, Susie's great aunt June Harper and the coterie of guys she has living with her, help keep the house in top shape, and they live in it to make sure that someone is there. Susie met the guys and she considers them family. Joyfully, Susie also learns that Anyssa is planning to take the name of Lucas as her own, after a long talk with Michelle, Sydney, Velda and her parents Sam and Lahoma. Anyssa's reasoning is because of how much she was a part of the family, and because of the years that she lived with them, and were really a part of her family. No other time in her life offered her more joy when her parents adopted Anyssa as their own daughter. Susie was completely thrilled when Anyssa was adopted after all this time. In spite of her adoption by Michelle, Sam made sure that would not change. As he said, "It allows more people for Anyssa to love and be loved by." That same sentiment was extended by Susie when she discovered that her close friends, Sheila and Dylan were revealed to be twin siblings. Susie loves her extended family very much. It is clear that despite all her trials, Susie Lucas is a very blessed woman indeed, with a very large family. (DISCLAIMER: Somerset scripts are currently 2 1/2 years behind Harpers Falls) Category:Characters Category:Harper family Category:Harper family allies Category:Other relatives of the Harper family Category:Somerset characters Category:Fictional attorneys Category:Lucas family